My niece got on the wrong schoolbus

lilorangekitty · September 2014

Today was my niece's first day of kindergarten. My sister was waiting for her to come home from school at the bus stop. But she did not get off the bus. The bus driver thought she had got on. But after many phone calls and frantically searching, another bus driver found her, asleep on his bus. She had simply taken the wrong bus and fallen asleep.

The school was sure they had sent her on the right bus, but they did not. She got on the bus with a friend, thinking it would take her home. Luckily, she fell asleep, so she didn't have a chance to get scared before being found.

What measures does your school put in place to prevent this from happening? My sister said the teacher would start lining the backpacks up in order by school bus, but I feel like this is not enough.

lilorangekitty · September 2014

I was thinking if they assigned each bus to an animal and told the kids what animal their bus was?

I will be stepping away from my computer but will be back online later, so this is a bit of a post and run...

sleepy33 · September 2014

OMG, how terrifying for her mom. I would have lost my damn mind.

lilorangekitty · September 2014

sleepy33 said:

OMG, how terrifying for her mom. I would have lost my damn mind.

Yes, she is still quite shaken up!

bumpuser9058414 · September 2014

My daughter had a sticker on her shirt with what bus she was to go home on. Who gave her the sticker I don't know...

lildevil968 · September 2014

My DD has a school bus tag on her backpack, and all of the buses have tags in the window. Teachers line the kids up with their bus, double check the tags, and then take attendance on the bus. They call the parents if the kid does not get on the bus.

RondackHiker · September 2014

Holy shit. Her poor mom.

outnumbered · September 2014

lilorangekitty said:

I was thinking if they assigned each bus to an animal and told the kids what animal their bus was?

I will be stepping away from my computer but will be back online later, so this is a bit of a post and run...

It is funny you should mention animals. I took the 'cat' bus in elementary school. It was also known as bus #2. I think assigning animal names to the buses works, hell I remember what bus to get on 34 years later. I even remember the picture of the cat in the front window. The bus name/number should also be in an ID card around their neck and on their backpack. They should have to show the driver the card as they get on.

taggiecb · September 2014

the K kids in our school have a big tag the first few days with their bus number, but on top of that, k-2 all line up in order of bus, and the buses line up in the same order every day. A teacher stands at the door and makes sure all kids get on the right bus, but our school is so small, that it may be more noticeable if a child gets on a wrong bus.

BookitBoo · September 2014

That is terrifying. I'm glad she fell asleep and wasn't scared, but geeze. Poor mom.

jesuisfatiguee · September 2014

That is so scary! I'm so glad she was okay - and sleeping so she wasn't afraid. Yikes.

RondackHiker · September 2014

When I was little we all had a tag with our name and bus number on it for the first week. Even in fifth grade we'd line up by bus number and then two teachers per grade would walk us down the line of buses and make sure we got on the right one.

Bus drivers stayed on the same bus year to year so got to know the kids and would ask if they didn't recognize someone getting on.

vandelay · September 2014

Yikes! I'm glad she's ok, but how scary for your sister!

cattuccino · September 2014

I would have lost it if I was her mom too.
I'm surprised they don't have assigned animal/colour/numbered busses for them?? we always had that...it's such a confusing time for little ones.

I also think it's cute she fell asleep.

I hope tomorrow works out better for everyone. And definitely see if she'll call into the school or bus company and see about putting some sort of system into place.

lilorangekitty · September 2014

Thanks for all your replies. I tried to love tit all but I am on mobile so some might not have gone through.
@laceyjean1‌ - this is a very small school, like classes are around 15 - 20 kids. I am very surprised they have no system in place but I think they just count on everyone knowing everyone else...

My sisger is going to see the principal tomorrow to talk about how they are going to prevent this from happening again.

rin89 · September 2014

Yeah, I work as an ed tech in the local elementary school and we do everything we can to avoid this situation. I spent my morning attaching school bus shaped tags to each backpack. They all have the kid's name, the teacher's name, the grade level, and the bus. Each group of buses is released one at a time and teachers/ed techs are the ones to put the kids on the buses.

That being said, sometimes things get mixed up. There's a miscommunication between the school and the parent/guardian and kids are on the wrong bus, don't get on the bus, or do get on when they shouldn't. The teacher and/or principal probably feel horrible.

taggiecb · September 2014

Yea, that is about this size of our school. I have also found that there is little communication between the school, and the bus drivers. I know a few drivers personally, and they said that they do not get a list of new students, or new stops. That is scary to think about also.

SunshineShades · September 2014

** lurker**

Most schools here have a list in the class of which bus each kid is on. On top of that in kindergarten the kids have a Bus buddy in an older grade. The bus buddy picks up the kindergarten kid before the bell rings, and then brings them out to the bus. Teachers also make sure each kid has a buddy, if the buddy is away, there is a back up, or another buddy offers to get them on the bus.

RondackHiker · September 2014

laceyjean1 said:
Yea, that is about this size of our school. I have also found that there is little communication between the school, and the bus drivers. I know a few drivers personally, and they said that they do not get a list of new students, or new stops. That is scary to think about also.

They don't get a list of new stops? What, is a kid supposed to speak up on a crowded bus?!

LadyXaverian · September 2014

Just reading this has me feeling panicky. I'm glad it all worked out, but I think they would have needed to tranquilize me.

taggiecb · September 2014

It seems F'ed up to me too.

taggiecb · September 2014

It's one of those things that the school doesn't take responsibility to do it, and the district doesn't seem on the ball enough to do it.

tbmadeamistake · September 2014

When I was little the buses all lined up in the same order every day and we knew which bus to get on by where it was in line. I don't remember having any problems with that, but then I had older siblings to look for to know I was on the right bus.

ridesbuttons · September 2014

In our school the kindergarten kids are assigned a 'bus buddy' who is an older student who rides the same bus. That kid will pick up the kindergartener and escort them to the correct bus.